Analysis & Opinion

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Oct 7 (Reuters) - An unmanned,
privately owned Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule blasted
off from Cape Canaveral on Sunday on a mission to restore a U.S.
supply line to the International Space Station after the
retirement of the space shuttle.

Powered by nine oxygen and kerosene-burning engines, the
157-foot (48-meter) tall rocket, built by Space Exploration
Technologies, lifted off from its seaside launch pad at Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station at 8:35 p.m. EDT (0035 GMT Monday).

"This was a critical event for NASA and the nation tonight,"
said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "Just over a year after
the retirement of the space shuttle, we have returned space
station cargo-resupply missions to U.S. soil."

The Falcon booster, flying for the fourth time, streaked
through balmy, partly cloudy skies as it headed east over the
Atlantic Ocean toward the station's orbit, some 250 miles (400
km) above Earth.

Despite a problem with one engine during the 10-minute climb
to orbit, the capsule was delivered exactly where it was
intended to go, company president Gwynne Shotwell told
reporters.

"Falcon 9 was designed to lose engines and still make
missions, so it did what it was supposed to do," Shotwell said.
"We will learn from our flights and continue to improve the
vehicle."

The capsule is scheduled to reach the $100-billion space
station - a project of 15 nations - on Wednesday.

The company, also known as SpaceX, made a successful practice
run to the station in May, clearing the way for it to begin
working off a $1.6 billion, 12-flight contract to deliver cargo
for NASA.

The Dragon cargo capsule carries about 882 pounds (400 kg) of
food, clothing, science experiments and supplies for the
station. The gear includes a freezer to transport medical
samples and a rare treat for the station crew - chocolate
vanilla swirl ice cream.

With the retirement of the space shuttles last year, NASA
turned to the private sector to develop and fly freight to the
station and is looking to do the same for crew transportation.

"Every time they have a successful mission, that gives the
non-believers one more opportunity to get onboard and root for
us and help us make this thing happen," Bolden said.

Unlike the Russian, European and Japanese freighters that
service the station, Dragon is designed to return to Earth
intact, rather than burn up in the atmosphere, so it can bring
back research and equipment from the station. That return
capability has been missing since the shuttle's retirement.

Dragon is scheduled to depart the station on Oct. 28 and to
splash down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

SpaceX has a separate NASA contract to upgrade its Dragon
capsule to carry humans as well. Boeing and privately owned
Sierra Nevada Corp also have NASA backing for space taxi design
work.

In addition to SpaceX, NASA has also hired Orbital Sciences
Corp to fly cargo to the station. Orbital's Antares rocket is
expected to make a debut flight later this year.